Cheesewring proposal on BMC meeting agenda

It may well be quite short notice but climbers in the area might be interested to note that the agenda for the next BMC South West Area Gathering has just been published. The meeting is to be held on 13th March at 7.00 p.m. at The Nova Scotia Inn, Bristol (see notice on BMC site here). On the agenda is a proposed extension to the existing bolting at Cheesewring Quarry - PDF here. I've been sent assurances by BMC South West Area Secretary Philip Wilson that this won't be decided at the Bristol meeting and there'll be a chance for discussion of the matter 'locally' (West Penwith).

I'd very much like to hear other people's opinions on these proposals and more generally the suggestion of extending bolting at Cheesewring Quarry. Please add your comments here or on this thread on UKClimbing.

- Barney Carver.

Storm damage causes coast path diversion

With the recent spell of storms many agencies are warning people to take care when out an about on Cornwall's coast. Although no rockfalls or storm damage have as yet been reported on the climbing cliffs of South East Cornwall there are one or two diversions to the South West Coast path that affect access to some venues. Firstly anyone wishing to visit Talland Bay needs to be aware that as of February 2014 the South West Coast path has been diverted so cannot be followed past Landslip Cove. See information here. Also at Downderry one of the paths to the beach passing the school has been closed, however, a number of alternatives are available and this isn't the access described in the current Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guide - so there is no need to cancel any planned trips as it should still be easily possible to get to the bouldering.

Hopefully these paths should reopen soon but it's worth noting that path closures and route changes can be checked here on the South West Coast Path website.

Latest website update

For anyone who missed them first time round the two climbing magazine reviews of the 2012 Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guide have just been added to the Articles section on the Cheesewring Climbing webpages. I'm very grateful to Dave Henderson and Iain Peters for giving permission to republish their reviews on the site. Thanks also to Climb editor Dave Pickford and commissioning editor Ian Smith at Climber for publishing the reviews originally. 

Route description added

There has been little reason to update the Cheesewring Climbing webpages of late as not much seems to have been happening in the area (must be something to do with the bad weather). However, I've just added a description of an easy new route that Rob Bogue and Katie Hammond climbed at Kit Hill Quarry last summer. See here.

My thanks to Rob for sending this in. If anyone out there does have any news or new route descriptions for the South East Cornwall area please do contact us through the website as it will help us keep the information up to date.

Hopefully I will put a few more things on the site in the next few weeks or so.

Rusty Peg gets new look

Tom Bunn has recently updated his website http://www.rustypeg.co.uk/ giving it a smart new look. Rusty Peg aims to provide the best free guides and media for the local climbing community in Devon and Cornwall. Of interest to climbers in South East Cornwall will be a number of photos from Tom's recent Cheesewring Quarry first ascents as well as videos by Tom and Mikey Cleverdon of boulder problems on Bodmin Moor.

So check it out here or visit the Rusty Peg Facebook page.

Cheesewring climbing guide in today's Western Morning News!

There is a two page spread featuring the Cheesewring & South East Cornwall guidebook in the Living Cornwall section of today's Western Morning News (Tuesday 20th August 2013). The article - Rock climbing guide pays homage to beauty and art of the 'mother granite' - can be read online here on the Western Morning News website. The feature, written by Des Hannigan, has a number of photos from the guide. Des's original piece can also be found amongst the articles on the Cheesewring Climbing website.

New F7c by Tom Bunn

Tom Bunn has successfully redpointed a hard new extension to Wring the Changes (F7b+) in Cheesewring Quarry. Although somewhat unimaginatively named Wring the Changes Extension (in deference to the parent route) it weighs in at F7c so constitutes a significant addition to the cannon of Cornish sport routes.

F7c would appear to be the ceiling for hard sport climbing in Cornwall at the moment - at least where commonly acceptable venues are concerned - with the number of routes at the grade currently standing at 6. I'm sure it won't be too long before the bar gets pushed higher.

Tom has also repeated Wring the Changes, which may only be the third ascent of this recently re-equipped test piece.

The full description of the Wring the Changes Extension can be found here. 

Why does Sean climb?

Sean Hawken has climbed a tough new micro-route on the wall left of An Arête (pictured above) at Kilmar Tor. Wye I Climb, E2 6b, was climbed by Sean in the beginning of June - the full description can be found here. Commenting on the route's grade Sean says: "For some reason [Rich] Hudson gave it E3, but it's not. He will say that's what I told him, however I think E2 or even E1 tops. Let's face it, you could solo it safely with mats." He adds: "I took my last chance, for the foreseeable future, to climb at Kilmar Tor and climbed this line in the rain just before leaving for Wales to live, and therefore the top seemed absolutely desperate, however on a dry day with a cool breeze?"

Sean's been an active developer of South East Cornwall's climbing for over twenty years as well as authoring the ground-breaking 1998 guide and providing co-authorship help, over the years, for other guides to the area - including the most recent one. But now he and his family have relocated from Devon to the Wye Valley. A great loss to the local scene and I'm sure his enthusiasm and humour will be missed. However Sean still intends to compile information relating to the bouldering on Bodmin Moor with the intention of producing a guide. If you have anything to add please contact him via his Bodmin Bouldering Facebook page.

Best wishes Sean and I'm sure we'll still see you back on the Moor from time to time!

Also now added to the New Routes section of the Cheesewring Climbing webpages are details of a new bouldering spot in Luxulyan Valley which has been developed by Tom Last.     

 

Climbing guidebook gains nomination in prestigious Cornish publishing awards

After receiving positive reviews in the climbing press, wider recognition was given to Cheesewring & South East Cornwall: A Climbers’ Guide as it secured a Nomination and the praise of judges at the 2013 Holyer an Gof publishing awards (often called the 'Cornish Bookers') which were presented at Waterstones, Truro on July 18th. A full report of the presentation evening has been added to the Articles section of the Cheesewring Climbing webpages. The full list of all the winning publications in the Holyer an Gof Publishers’ Awards for 2013, as well as photos of the presentation evening, can be found at www.holyerangofawards.org.uk.

Martin Crocker climbs new South Coast E5 and E4

It continues to be a busy summer on Cornwall's South Coast and things stepped up a gear last week with a visit from Martin Crocker. In the company of his son Jonathan, Martin added five new climbs to various seaside venues. Perhaps the most noteworthy being Unzip Real Slow E5 5c, at Dodman Point, which sounds like a really frightening lead protected mostly by skyhook runners and 'feather-weight' gear. Also here Martin climbed Deadman's Chest, E1 5a, which he says is worth a star and offers excellent climbing on good rock.

The pair also paid a visit to Lantic Bay resulting in two further additions to Great Lantic Beach Rock. This must surely be the most pleasant and amenable of South East Cornwall's coastal climbing spots and Martin seems to be a fan, describing it as 'a stunningly beautiful place'. Any climbers living or holidaying in the area should take note: Lantic Bay is well worth the trip.

At Pencarrow Head - in addition to climbing all the existing deep water solos - Martin also soloed Totally Out of My Skull, F6a+ (S3.5!) in preference to using the 'gnarly' ridge descent to access the Grim Reefer Wall. While the ridge descent isn't quite as bad as it looks care does need to be taken and it is probably worth roping up for it on first acquaintance.

Previously in February Martin also climbed a new route on the remarkably good Western Gear Pinnacle at Rame Head. Keep On Lovin, E4 6a, is described as a fine pitch on great rock and takes the wall to the left of Pete O'Sullivan's 1984 route Framed. It has emerged that the two routes to the right, Retrieved and Revived, are both in fact yet to receive a lead ascent (see note on the New Route page). If anyone does lead these please get in touch and you'll get all the first ascent glory!

Full descriptions of these routes can be found here. Many thanks to Martin Crocker for providing the details and useful feedback on other things from the area.